Withdraw ban on Bangla FDI in India: IBCCI

Agartala, Nov 14: The India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI) has renewed its demand for removal of the existing ban on Bangladesh FDI in India as Indian companies, including Tata and Ispat, were making serious efforts to invest in Bangladesh.

IBCCI officials said here today that there was a huge deficit in India's account in export business due to unfair non-tariff barriers to its exports to India.

IBCCI records claimed that during April 2007-February 2008, India's exports to Bangladesh amounted to USD 1.5 billion while imports from Bangladesh were recorded at USD 205 million.

Uninon Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh had taken special interest last year in developing projects to upgrade infrastructure at land custom stations in West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya, through which about two-thirds of the bilateral trade between the two neighbouring countries takes place, but nothing had come out satisfactorily yet, they added.

UNI